


The Worst Fate

by JirsSnufminArchive



Category: Moominvalley (Cartoon 2019), Mumintroll | Moomins Series - Tove Jansson, 楽しいムーミン一家 | Moomin (Anime 1990)
Genre: And Fall, Gen, Snusmumriken | Snufkin Has Paws and a Tail, Swearing, Those are very specific themes in my work, You guys mightve noticed I like talking about Mumrik nature
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-18
Updated: 2019-09-20
Packaged: 2020-10-21 11:22:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20692691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JirsSnufminArchive/pseuds/JirsSnufminArchive
Summary: Mumriks have a natural dislike of authority and especially notices. Why follow silly rules when the world belongs to all who live in it? It's a Mumriks natural inclination to rebel, however, that can lead them into more trouble than they can sometimes handle.





	1. Chapter 1

Snufkin took in a breath of crisp air. It was fall, but still a while until Winter. The wonderful time of the year where there was a pleasant sharpness to everything. Leaves that crunched underfoot, the cool air, unique colours of the leaves and the bare, brownness that seemed to overtake the Spring and Summer’s full greens. 

It was also a somewhat lonely time too, as his animal friends were hibernating or flying away to elsewhere. He was going elsewhere too, but without wings he was much slower to follow. 

Snufkin was used to being alone however, it never affected him so much. He was a Mumrik after all, and they were solitary creatures. 

He would travel the world, keeping to himself, fishing and cooking on is own and sleeping in his tent. He rarely had a need or want for company or help of others. 

And of course, as a Mumrik, he had a dislike for needless authority, usually imposed by Fillyjonks and Hemulens and their incessant desire for rules and order. 

He wasn’t lawless, most Mumriks weren’t. It was general practice not to do something with the express intent to hurt someone, or if hurting someone was the only result of an action. 

That said, Mumriks didn’t always agree with what was considered polite or proper. They lived by their own rules, even when it made trouble for others. For some Mumriks, like his father, life was best lived _especially_ when it made trouble for others. 

Snufkin’s own code kept him from hurting people of course, but he had no qualms with what some would term stealing. He tended to do it most often when something was abundant, like melons in a field or with things that were truly necessary to have at the time. 

Many had insisted he was a criminal for such acts, and in fact he’d been in jail a few times before! It didn’t matter to him, though. He would free himself, by tools or by wit and then he’d carry on, because Mumriks aren’t meant to stay in cages. 

He’d made enemies this way. Park keepers, police, and other authority disliked not only him, but Mumriks in general.

The idea was always so perplexing to him. If you had many of something, what did it matter if somebody took one? Especially with plants. It was quite silly to say any one person owned any number of plants because nature belongs to everybody and nobody. 

And then there were notices! Notices were certainly the worst offence to a Mumrik! Whenever he saw one denoting a rule, the urge to pull it up or tear it down was much too great.

Why should a notice be allowed to remain and impose the will of another like that? It was very silly, even more so when the notices were so abundant and specific. 

It was this sort of thing that made Snufkin pause on his walk through the woods one day. He saw them easily, pinned to trees as they were, they stuck out like a sore thumb. 

He made his way over to the tree, tail flicking behind him. 

As he got closer, he could see it was undoubtedly a notice. Written in pristine printing. There was a distinct image of a tent in that oppressive, crossed red circle that notices often had. 

He couldn’t read it quite yet, the print was too small to see it properly, but the image alone made him bristle. 

Would he find that the sign indeed forbid _camping_ of all things?? 

What a ridiculous notion that anyone _could_ forbid it! 

And on what grounds too? This was a forest! His tail’s flicking became a steady lash. The fur on his paws prickled with anticipation as he approached the notice. This one had to come down certainly, right away! 

He’d burn it too, notices are only good for being firewood and kindling. It would save him some time in building his camp and be quite satisfying to boot! To prepare a camp with something forbidding it, just what whoever put up the notice deserved! 

And that was another thing, just who was this villain and where were they? If he could find them, he’d certainly have to show them a thing or two about silly notices. Perhaps, if he gathered up some pine branches and got the fire especially smoky, it might flush the villain out… 

Snufkin gave a chuckle at his plan, he hoped it was successful. Even if he didn’t have Hattifatteners to properly punish whatever villain this might be, at least he’d get to see the look on their face when he had deliberately ruined thei-

Snufkin wasn’t able to finish his thought. 

Just as he had reached the base of the tree, the quiet sounds of the forest were interrupted by a loud 

_SNAP_


	2. Chapter 2

Snufkin couldn’t feel it, not right away, but he knew it was there. 

His blood ran cold and his mind swirled. Had he gone numb? Or was it the adrenalin coursing through him from the suddenness of it all that kept him from screaming and left him stuck in place?

He dared to look down and confirm it. 

Gleaming metal teeth gripped his leg, a bear trap. 

His breathing was shallow as he stared at it. He’d been warned about the reality of bear traps, but why _here_?? 

He’d been so focused on that stupid notice! The distraction and a collection of leaves covering it had led him to completely miss the trap now crushing his leg inside it. 

His stomach lurched, whatever was keeping him from processing the pain before was finally passing and he fought to keep the meagre contents of his stomach where they were. 

Snufkin forced himself to the ground before the pain dragged him down, ensuring he didn’t tear his leg any worse by falling. 

Tears welled in his eyes and he tried desperately to keep them in. 

He looked uncertainly at the nasty metal contraption with hatred and frustration. It wasn’t just that it was hurting him, but that it kept him stuck here.

If he tried to open it himself, it every likely wouldn’t work, his paws would only get sliced and strained.

Snufkin glanced around the bear trap but couldn't find where it was anchored into the ground among all the leaves.

He removed his pack and laid it nearby, it would do no good on his back while he tried to work this out. 

As Snufkin tried to think of some way out, to find a strick nearby perhaps to wedge into the trap, he found himself growing faint. 

Of course he was. But he couldn’t! He had to fight it somehow, he had to free himself! 

His attempts to fight off the wooziness overtaking him only proved to sap his energy even faster, and before Snufkin knew what was happening his eyes were closing, and his head collapsed to the ground.

When Snufkin’s eyes blinked open again, the sun was hanging low in the sky. He forced himself back into a sitting position, though his muscles screamed at him not to. 

He wondered where the owner of the trap was. As unsavoury as it was to have something such as this in the first place, surely they would come check it, right? 

Snufkin thought glumly about a deer in the same situation. He was lucky at least that his leg was wider and firmer than that of a deer’s, though his leg will still undoubtedly be damaged by the time he’s finally free. 

He gave a sigh and wondered just how long he would be stuck and prayed to the stars that he’d be out before they started to fill the sky. 

Snufkin heard a rustle and the approach of footsteps and turned hopefully toward them. 

He was met with the sight of a Hemulen looking down at him. 

“Hullo!” He managed. His voice was awkward and strained from disuse and the pain still bombarding his senses. 

Snufkin gave a forced chuckle. “Would you mind helping me? I seem to be in… hah… a bit of a spot…” He admitted, gesturing to his caught leg, which throbbed in pain, but thankfully didn’t seem to be bleeding. 

But the Hemulen didn’t make any hurried moves over to help. Instead, he merely smirked and Snufkin felt a cold pit form in his stomach. 

“I knew those notices would work.”

Snufkin stares at him incredulously. “You...you can’t be serious…” 

The Hemulen stared him down. “Hemulens aren’t one for jokes.” 

“But why??” Snufkin felt his throat tighten and his voice squeaked. 

“You Mumriks have no respect, and jailing you seems not to work, you always slip or trick your way out of that too.” The Hemulen explained, moving toward where Snufkin sat. 

Snufkin wanted desperately to move away, but his leg and the weakness in his body kept him rooted to the spot. 

“So you’re setting up traps to catch us?? There’s...there’s no way you should be allowed to do that!” Snufkin protested. 

The Hemulen simply snorted. “That’s rich coming from a lawless pest like you!” 

Snufkin glared up at him with as much conviction as he could muster. “Mumriks aren’t lawless! And we’re not all the same even if some of us were!” 

“And yet you had your mind about you to tear down my notice and didn’t even bother to watch where you were going.” the Hemulen countered. 

Snufkin shook his head in frustration. “It was a stupid notice! How can you forbid camping!” 

The Hemulen grabbed Snufkin’s arm and pulled the little Mumrik up off the ground to face him. Snufkin gave a cry as his leg wretched from the motion. 

“Plenty of reasons why I can! The fallen leaves and dry air make campfires particularly dangerous at this time of year.” 

Snufkin breathed sharply as he tried to keep himself steady with the pain. 

“But I know how to make campfires safely, you’re just being ridiculous!” He hissed. 

“As if you Mumriks aren’t fire bugs! I tell you, if we had more eyes watching the forests, we'd see almost all fires are set _purposefully_ by you lot, burning notices or just because you’re bored!” 

Snufkin wanted desperately to kick his feet and struggle away, but he forced himself to fight his instincts. If the trap hadn’t sliced his leg already, that would certainly do it. 

“So what are you going to do with me now then?? You can’t be thinking of trying to get rid of me!” 

The Hemulen turned up his snout in disgust. “How barbaric. No, of course not, I’m not sure what I’ll do with you, but at the very least this might teach you a lesson and slow you down enough to keep you from trouble.” 

Snufkin felt himself waver in fear. “This is madness…” he muttered, starting to feel about faint again.

The Hemulen gave a chuckle. “Maybe if you Mumriks weren’t so anti-social, you’d have had somebody to help you out and you’d've been let on your way before I got here with just a bruised leg, but you don’t, now do you?”

Snufkin’s heart fell and he glanced around desperately for something, a bird or a squirrel that might prove the Hemulen wrong. 

As he scanned about, his eyes suddenly met a pair of bright blue eyes, standing out against the growing darkness from a tree and he heard a familiar voice. 

“**What the _fuck_ do you think you’re doing to _my_ kit?**”


	3. Chapter 3

Snufkin winced at the language, but when he refocused his eyes his father was down from the tree. 

The Joxter’s bright blue eyes burned with fury and his tail lashed behind him as he made his way up to the Hemulen, still holding Snufkin off the ground by his arm. 

The Hemulen scoffed. “And they’re multiplying! Bad enough one Mumrik in the area!” 

The Joxter gave a hiss as he glared up at the Hemulen, easily twice his size but no less determined. 

“You have five seconds to set down my boy-” 

“Or you’ll do what? You’re just a little thing, and this one isn’t going to be much help.” The Hemulen said, holding Snufkin up and tugging his leg just a bit more against the trap. 

Snufkin gave a sharp cry and the Joxter leapt at the Hemulen, claws unsheathed and quickly slashing across his snout, causing him to stumble back and drop Snufkin. 

The young Mumrik shrieked before hitting the ground with a thud and went out cold. 

The Joxter continued his swipes at the Hemulen as his blood boiled. Hemulens and their rules were bad enough, but one harming Snufkin like this was not only awful but absolutely evil! 

The Hemulen cried out and tried to put his arms up and block his face. The Joxter gave a vicious hiss and sunk his sharp teeth into his arm. The Hemulen yelled and tossed the Joxter off, then held his hand to the long scratches on his face he’d left. 

“To think that anyone sees you Mumriks as more than just animals! You should all very well be trapped!” He shouted, before turning and fleeing. 

The Joxter breathing was heavy as adrenaline coursed through him, his eyes slitted as they stared after the Hemulen fleeing into the forest. 

He resisted the hunter’s urge to give chase and instead turned quickly to Snufkin. 

The Mumrik boy lay on the ground, leg still horribly caught, raised at an awkward angle. 

The Joxter’s eyes slowly dilated, back to normal size and even beyond that as he stared worriedly at his kit’s crumpled form. 

He paced anxiously, not wanting to leave his poor boy’s side but needing to find something to free him. 

Eventually, the Joxter knelt down to Snufkin and held him. He kissed his son’s head and then laid him in a more comfortable position before racing off to find a branch. 

When the Joxter had found a decent-sized piece of wood, he ran back to where Snufkin was laying near the base of the tree. 

He was just as he left him, not fine but thankfully no animals, hungry from the dwindling prey, had come around to inspect the incapacitated Mumrik. 

The Joxter carefully wedged the branch into the beartrap to pry it open and finally freed Snufkin’s leg. 

With a sickening clash, the bear trap closed around the branch. 

The Joxter moved Snufkin away from the thing and laid him gently on the fallen leaves and grass. 

He moved to grab Snufkin’s pack, filled with all the practical things a Mumrik might need while travelling. The Joxter was a bit more reckless, carrying almost nothing but a few small pocket items. 

The Joxter shuffled through Snufkin’s bag and found a medical kit, giving a small sigh of relief that Snufkin had something of the sort. 

He moved back to his son’s side and carefully rolled up his pant leg to look at the damage done. 

The last few wretches and the fall had finally caused the trap to cut into Snufkin’s leg and the Joxter nearly cried just looking at it. 

He got to work using the first aid kit to clean and dress the wound, trying to work as quickly as he could. 

He looked from Snufkin’s wrapped leg to his poor face and then glanced up at the tree by the trap and saw the notice. 

The Joxter’s tail lashed once more and he sidestepped the bear trap to stand before the tree. With a furious yank he pulled down the notice and tossed it off into the forest. 

When he had finished, he returned to the ground, tucked Snufkin’s things back in his bag, and put it on. 

He took Snufkin in his arms, careful of how he supported his leg, and got up off the ground. 

The Joxter started to walk, though he didn’t quite know where he was going, but he’d find somewhere safe for Snufkin to recover. 

He spoke quietly and stroked his son’s messy hair as he went. 

He had no idea what that despicable Hemulen might’ve had planned for his poor son if he hadn’t arrived, but what mattered was he was safe now. 

Snufkin’s eyes blinked open as they walked into the night. 

“Dad?...” He managed.

The Joxter gave him a gentle smile and held him close. 

“Not now kit, go back to sleep, I’ve got strength in my legs enough to carry us both, and with any luck, we’ll soon have you back on yours.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end! 
> 
> This was just a short little idea I had but I hope you enjoyed it none the less! Thank you as always for the support and I hope you enjoy what comes next!


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